The Trainer of the Future

A few years ago I was part of a project to define ‘The Trainer of the Future’. Together with Jonathan Stoneman and Peter Wallich we tried to sketch the profile of a learning professional some years from now, based on our experience of learning and development and the trends we could see unfolding around us.

In retrospect, I think we only began to answer the question; but the question has continued to occupy me and I think I now have a clearer picture. It’s a topic on which I have written, spoken and often seen raised elsewhere so – for what it is worth – I would like to summarise my own contribution to the debate:

1)    From Experts to Honeybees: trainers too often cast themselves in the role of expert. This was always problematic; businesses are sceptical of the idea that the trainers are the real experts – at best they are the ex-experts – and in a world where expertise is ever more volatile, trainers risk looking like dinosaurs. The very best trainers are indeed experts – experts at training. Today this means being able identify, analyse and share best practice – a very different aspiration from that of the subject-matter-expert. The expression ‘curation’ is being used a lot – but in truth this falls short of the real ambition: curation is far too passive, training professionals need to be actively hunting down the good stuff, refining it, and bringing it to the areas of the business where it is needed most.

2)    Performance consulting: in the past few years few people have impressed me as much as Nigel Harrison and Dennis Reid. Nigel Harrison’s model of performance consulting is an excellent framework for understanding what is wrong with today’s training. Too often I find myself in meetings which start ‘we need a training course on….’ Instead of ‘we need a solution to…’. Too often the questions are about what ‘learning objectives’ are to be delivered instead of what behaviours we are trying to influence. Dennis’s model is equally elegant: instead of offering training courses, he asks retailers to identify their best-performing stores. Dennis’s team analyse the stores’ performance, then introduce it (forcefully if need be) elsewhere. But whilst performance consulting is undoubtedly a better model, I am troubled by two things: do businesses really know who is performing well (outside of areas like sales)? and: if the focus was squarely on performance would there really be any need for a learning specialist?

3)    A new model of learning: the heart of learning & development’s problem is that traditional learning approaches don’t deliver. There really is no point in banging on about improving evaluation if you have no means of delivering results – it will just highlight failure. Be that as it may, learning & development will eventually have to concede that the value of ‘push-type’/’just in case’ interventions is at most that they protect the board of directors when things go wrong. What is needed is a stark and honest appraisal of the things that really effect change within a workforce. When we researched our own audience, the results were revealing: staff wanted experiences which would build their confidence and they wanted sources of inspiration. They wanted line managers who would take a genuine interest in their development, or people who would act as mentors. Learning itself was something they themselves carried out – because it mattered.

4)    Awareness and resource: it is increasingly ridiculous to think of learning as knowledge-transfer in a world where information is ubiquitous. In such a world it makes sense to refer rather than learn wherever possible. Users will ‘pull’ learning if they are genuinely motivated to do so; our role is to make them aware to the need to do so, and make the right resources accessible. Our own development model has shifted significantly towards a ‘3S’ approach – storytelling, scenario, simulation. We impress, we inspire, we make people think and sometimes we shock. Our job is not primarily to get the information across but to make people care enough to change their behaviour. In short, what matters is making it matter.

5)    Rapid development: 30 years ago managers would have someone to sort their correspondence, to take dictation and type up letters – someone to organise their diaries. Presumably it would have been asking too much of managers to expect them to learn to type.
Rapid development tools are beginning to emerge, removing technical obstacles in the way of learning professionals creating their own content. Sadly, when given this opportunity some resort to uploading deadly powerpoint presentations, which presumably exposes shortcomings in our understanding of what learning is (see 3 above). Rapid development shouldn’t be ‘more crap, quicker’ (thanks to the PWC team for this summary), rather it should be an opportunity for learning professionals to extend their repertoire, take control of the process and make their delivery more accessible.

6)    Video: learning professionals need to master the basics of directing, shooting, editing and distributing video. I have said this many times, run workshops on it – and I’m sure many people think it’s a BBC-thing. It’s not: video is a very effective and cheap way of inspiring people to learn when done well. Websites like YouTube, VideoJug, LifeHacker demonstrate how effective video can be in delivering learning. This is principally because, unlike most online courseware, video has the power to convey individual enthusiasm or personal conviction  – precisely what makes a face-to-face session worthwhile. Video is ideal for capturing and sharing success stories within organisations - and learning professionals are the right people to do this.

7)    Passionate about learners and learning: you will doubtless remember the best teachers from school – we all know who they are: they were the ones brimming with enthusiasm, who were passionate about learning, who really cared about the people in their class and their development. These teachers inspired students to learn, by mastering the motivational context. I find it hard to imagine the ‘trainer of the future’ without picturing someone like this. It might seem like I am describing the ideal trainer rather than the trainer of the future – but so-called subject-matter experts can afford to be self-centered; whilst people who are trying to inspire or motivate others cannot.

8)    Connectivity: learning professionals should be well-connected, making use of networks to seek out, evaluate and spread learning (not information, but those things that inspire people to learn). This is really just a corollary of the first point.

If you are not a regular reader of this blog, then my scepticism regarding conventional training approaches will be apparent from this post alone – and it may well be that these days the ‘conventional training approach’ is a bit of a straw man. I genuinely believe that learning professionals have a central role to play in the organisations of the future. The effectiveness of such organisations will depend to an ever-increasing degree on their connectivity: being able to adapt, being able to spot good ideas and share them, being able to identify talent. There is an important role for the learning professional, if only we can demonstrate that we are ready to take it on.